Sky the Blue Fairy (9780545308137) (4 page)

Kirsty bit her lip. “It looks like Jack Frost's magic took away her color!”

Just then, the blue crab scuttled out of the water and made his way across the rock to Sky. “Oh dear, oh dear,” he muttered. “Poor little fairy.”

Sky shivered and wrapped her arms around her body. “I'm so cold and sleepy,” she whispered.

Kirsty felt a pang of alarm. “What's wrong, Sky? Did the goblins get too close to you?”

Sky nodded weakly. “Yes, and now I can't get warm.”

“We have to help her,” Rachel said.

“But how?” asked Kirsty. She looked down at Sky in dismay. The fairy was curled up in a tiny ball with her eyes closed.

Rachel felt tears sting behind her eyelids.

Poor Sky. She looked really sick. What was going to happen to her?

Rachel spotted something moving down on the rock. “Look!” she said. The little blue crab was wiggling his front claws wildly.

“He's trying to tell us something,” said Kirsty.

The girls crouched down.

“Don't worry,” the crab said in his gritty voice. “My friends will help us.” He scurried up to the top of the highest rock and snapped his claws in the air.

“What's he doing?” Kirsty asked. Then she stared in amazement.

Lots and lots of crabs crawled out of the tide pools around them. Big ones, little ones, all different colors. Their claws made scratchy noises on the pebbles.

The blue crab wiggled his eyes and clicked his claws, pointing up at the sky, then down at the ground. His friends scrambled away in all directions. Their little stalk eyes waved around as they poked their claws into the cracks between the rocks.

Rachel and Kirsty looked at each other, confused. “What's going on?” asked Rachel.

All of a sudden, Kirsty spotted a tiny pink crab tugging and tugging at something in the rock.

With a crunch, the crab tumbled over backward. It held a fluffy white seagull feather in its claws. The crab scrambled up again, waving the feather in the air.

One by one, the other crabs searched for more feathers. Then the blue crab waved them over to to the rock where Sky lay. Very carefully, he tucked the feathers around the Blue Fairy. His friends gathered more and more feathers, until the fairy was lying in a cozy feather bed.

“They're trying to warm up Sky with seagull feathers!” Kirsty said.

Rachel held her breath. There were so many feathers now that she couldn't see the fairy at all.
Will the blue crab's idea work?
she wondered.

There was the tiniest wriggle in the feather nest. A faint puff of blue sparkles fizzed up.

It smelled like blueberries. One pale blue star wobbled upward and disappeared in the air with a
pop
.

“Fairy dust!” Rachel whispered.

“But there's not very much of it,” Kirsty pointed out.

There was another wriggle from inside the nest. The feathers fell apart to reveal the Blue Fairy. Her dress was still very pale. She opened her big, blue eyes and sat up.

She looked up at Rachel and Kirsty. “Hello, I'm Sky the Blue Fairy. Who are you?” she said in a sleepy voice.

“I'm Kirsty,” said Kirsty.

“And I'm Rachel,” said Rachel.

“Thank you for frightening the goblins away,” said Sky. “And thank you, little crab, for finding all these nice, warm feathers.” She tried to unfold her wings, but they were too crumpled. “My poor wings,” said the fairy, her eyes filling with tiny tears.

“The feathers have helped, but Sky still can't fly,” Kirsty said.

“Maybe the other Rainbow Fairies can help,” Rachel said.

Sky looked up excitedly. “Do you know where my sisters are?” she asked.

“Oh, yes,” said Kirsty. “So far, we've found Ruby, Amber, Sunny, and Fern.”

“They are safe in the pot at the end of the rainbow,” Rachel added.

“Could you take me to them, please?” said Sky. “I'm sure they will help make me better.” She tried to stand up, but her legs were too wobbly and she had to sit down again.

“Here, let me carry you,” Rachel offered. She cupped her hands and scooped up the feather nest with the fairy inside.

Sky waved at the little blue crab and his friends. “Good-bye. Thank you again for helping me.”